ED: Entered India from Bangladesh without passport, then pushed girls into prostitution

The Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad Zonal Office has made a provisional attachment of assets worth Rs. 1.90 lakh (approx.) in terms of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in respect of two cases of immoral trafficking racket operated by Bangladeshi nationals. ED initiated an investigation on the basis of two FIRs filed by the Telangana Police. Later, the NIA took over the case. Bangladeshi nationals entered India initially without having any passports, and from there, they would illegally arrange for girls to come to India by promising them that they would give them jobs. These girls were made to resort to prostitution.

The Telangana Police raided two brothers in the suburbs of the city, of Hyderabad. The police had cracked a syndicate of prostitution and immoral trafficking by Bangladeshi nationals. FIRs were registered in PS Chatrinaka and PS Pahadi Sharif. The case was also investigated by the NIA. Investigation was made, and it was established that most of the arrested accused were Bangladeshi nationals. They were illegally in India without valid travel documents. They held fake/forged Indian identity documents. They were arrested in other FIRs also, but they continued their prostitution and illegal trafficking of Bangladeshi girls. The victim girls were trafficked from India by illegally crossing the border in West Bengal with the help of various agents operating in the Indo-Bangladesh border by luring them with better-paid employment in beauty parlors, tailoring shops, steel factories, domestic help, etc.

They were later pushed into prostitution. As a result of the investigation and chargesheet filed by the investigating agency, the NIA Special Court has sentenced all the six accused in an FIR to life imprisonment. The ED also investigated the said case. It revealed that the accused persons were running brothels at various places in and around Hyderabad and were sending the victim girls to other brothels and agents on a commission basis. Using fake/forged Indian identity documents, the accused persons opened multiple bank accounts and online wallets for their illegal activities.

For the trafficking of Bangladeshi girls and others, the accused persons were paying around Rs 4-5 thousand per person to agents/middlemen along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, which was shared among various parties involved in trafficking on both sides of the border. The ED investigation revealed that payments for the trafficking of Bangladeshi girls were made through banking channels and also in cash to the agents. To hide the money trail, the accused persons used money transfer services of various financial intermediaries. A major portion of the proceeds of crime (POC) was sent to several individuals bordering Bangladesh in West Bengal who withdrew the money in cash and handed it over to other hawala agents who ensured remittance to the families of the accused and the victim girls in Bangladesh.

Investigation has revealed that the accused also sometimes used 'Buksh' (Bangladesh Bank's mobile financial service). The assets seized by the ED are in the form of balances in Paytm wallets and bank accounts, as well as immovable properties of one of the accused, Ruhul Amin Dhali, who was one of the most prominent agents involved in the illegal trafficking of Bangladeshi girls to India.